Anime game platform operator CTW was reported to the UK’s advertising regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), over a suspected violation of the country’s advertising rules. These complaints were related to three paid-for YouTube adverts for the High School D×D Operation Paradise Infinity game on the G123 platform.
CONTENT WARNING: The following article contains images of ads featuring partial nudity, which some readers may find inappropriate. Viewer discretion is advised.
Filed by three people, the complaints were motivated by beliefs that the adverts portrayed characters below 18 years old in a sexual, irresponsible, and offensive manner. CTW operates the popular G123 online gaming platform, where High School D×D Operation Paradise Infinity can be played.
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Following the ASA’s opening of a case against CTW, CTW removed the ads and acknowledged that they didn’t conform to the UK’s “advertising standards and societal expectations,” per the ASA’s report. CTW added it was “reinforcing their review and approval processes,” and “would take steps to comply with the CAP Code [Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing] in future.“
CTW’s response added that its ads were intended to reproduce the playful and parodic themes of the High School DxD anime. The adverts were supposed to be light-hearted, using comedic translated terms like “boobtastic” and themes from the anime, such as its harem aspect, not to “sexualise the content of their ad” but rather reflect the anime’s “comedic tone” that “had long been used in its promotional material.” The ASA added, “CTW Inc had since recognised that it would not be perceived in the same way in the UK and they would avoid such expressions in the future.” Two of the adverts believed to be flagged are below.
The descriptions of the three ads, per the ASA:
- The first ad featured an image of two anime girls, both with large eyes and open mouths. Both looked at the viewer over naked shoulders. Text below stated, “Official High School […] All rise for the gentlemen’s harem […] titillating browser game. Don’t look away!”.
- The second ad featured an image of three anime girls, all with large eyes and two with rosy cheeks. Text in the image stated, “boobtastic game”, “Get your hands full!” and “high school”. Text below stated, “A New Boobtastic Game Is Here […]”.
- The third ad featured an image of an anime girl with large eyes and an open mouth. The profile of her large breast was visible. Her thigh, buttock and string-style knickers were partially obscured by the word “SUMMER”. Other text in the image stated, “HIGHSCHOOL”. Text alongside the image stated, “A New Boobtastic Game is Here” and “All rise for the gentlemen’s harem […] titillating browser game. Don’t look away!”.
The ASA’s verdict following the complaints was that the adverts depicted characters below 18 through references to “high school” in a sexual manner, using terms like “gentleman’s harem,” “titillating,” “Get your hands full!,” “boobtastic,” and inclusions of breasts, thighs, buttocks, panties, partial nudity, open mouths, and more. The ASA found that the adverts portrayed the characters as “stereotypical sex objects,” were “offensive,” and “included a harmful gender stereotype.“
The ASA therefore found that CTW breached UK CAP Code rules 1.3 (Social Responsibility), and rules 4.1 (offense), 4.8 (inappropriate sexual depictions of under-18s), and 4.9 (gender stereotypes likely to offend).
CTW was warned to ensure that its future ads do not again appear in the form complained about, “were socially responsible and did not cause serious or widespread offence,” did not “feature harmful gender stereotypes by objectifying and sexualising women,” and not “represent anyone who was, or seemed to be, under 18 years of age in a sexual way.”
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This caution comes not long after CTW completed its IPO in July, raising $12 million (before underwriting fees and expenses) as CTW Cayman on the Nasdaq Capital Market exchange. The company plans to use the funds “primarily to support the Company’s global market expansion initiatives, which are expected to account for approximately 85% of the net proceeds, with the remainder allocated to general working capital and other corporate purposes.” As the operator of G123, CTW’s stated mission for the platform is help “game developers generate revenue from underlying Japanese anime IP by reaching a global player audience.“
Among G123’s anime game titles are:
- So I’m a Spider, So What? Ruler of the Labyrinth
- Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest – Rebellion Soul
- Queen’s Blade Limit Break
- TSUKIMICHI -Moonlit Fantasy-: Peace Chronicles
- Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Another Tale
- I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level: Witchcraft
- Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time – Defender of Virtue 2
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G123’s Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest – Rebellion Soul recently completed its collaboration with the popular (and ironically named, all things considered) High School of the Dead (HOTD), with Saeko and Saya getting playable units and visuals. Arifureta‘s Yue also received an outfit inspired by HOTD. G123 will also be the home of The Apothecary Diaries‘ first online game, The Apothecary Diaries: Palace Chronicles, which was described as a raising Maomao simulator.
High School D×D Operation Paradise Infinity is inspired by the High School DxD anime, with animation production by TNK (Season 1-3) and Passione (Season 4), which in turn adapts the light novels by Ichiei Ishibumi (story) and Miyama-ZERO (art). The series received 4 anime TV seasons. Crunchyroll streams the series, describing it:
A war between heaven and hell is raging on Earth—and hormonal fury is raging in Issei’s pants. Enter curvy redhead Rias, president of The Occult Research Club: a club that doesn’t actually research the occult. They are the occult—and Rias is a Devil!
Source: ASA Official Website
©2012 Ichiei Ishibumi・Miyama-ZERO/PUBLISHED BY KADOKAWA CORPORATION FUJIMISHOBO/HighSchoolDD PARTNERS.
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